Fans need games like this. If it was the beginning of the season we'd be hyped. interior passing, post ups, swinging the ball for an open 3. then getting out and running. but now in the back of everyone's mind - when the defense tightens, will BJ and smith go hero ball and brick us into oblivion?
Kyle was awesome in this game. Sometimes he's in there because he doesn't make a ton of mistakes but he doesn't do much either. Tonight he made a lot of plays. The bigs can pass and they found him. He was in there with the scrubs and it was clear that he's just way better than those guys. He's in his 2nd year in the NBA. He won't be a star but he's getting better and better.
Josh played a good game. Didn't over shoot. Sweet interior passing. Yeah he took some less than optimal shots but there wasn't a lot of them.

They went away from setting a pick at the top of the key so Jennings could impotently probe the defense. He did try to break his man down but he can't so he passed the ball. He can make entry passes which Knight couldn't do. 4 assists is good because he didn't dominate the ball and the team made extra passes for the easy bucket.

This was a game where Josh Smith displayed his value to the team perfectly - being a good team player. Kickouts, solid defense, driving to the hoop, finding cutters. He rebounded well, and didn't try to bomb away. Some people will say he underplayed his contract, and to an extent that is true, but this was an all around good performance from a guy who has been way to quick on the trigger lately. He needs to be coached into finding a balance between using his offense through cutting and fighting in the post, and his elite passing skills. Monroe and Smith put on a passing clinic inside for a combined 11 assists. That is great outcome from two big guys. Also of note, Smith and Monroe both had 4 steals tonight, which nearly made up for the 9 turnovers they had between them and gave them a ast/tov rate of >1. Monroe gets an A from me and Smith a B+ (only because he took some bad shots)

Drummond. Well. This guy looks the part of centrepiece right now. He deserves it. He still isn't consistent enough on offense, but his rebounding is out of control. But who can argue with a guy who went 10-11 from the field (2/5 FG ) for 22 points. 14 rebounds? Consider this - right now, the Pistons have 3 guys in the top 20 for rebounds a game and he is still 3rd in the league. Incredible. He gets an A

Singler. Lets put this one to bed. He had a really good game tonight. He shot well from outside, made smart cuts, drew fouls. His offense was really important to a couple of lethargic moments for the Pistons. He chipped in with 10 rebounds, an ast, steal and a block. His defense wasn't fantastic (I can think of a few mistakes off the top of my head) but was passable. Against Philly, you would hope this is the case. I'm giving him a B+ for the game.

Bynum. With the exception of a delicious alley oop to Drummond, this guy didn't deserve minutes this game. I might have missed something good but I thought he was awful tonight, particularly on defense. 6 assists is nothing to scoff at, but he didn't make it count on the other end. Also, I hate watching him try to captain the floor, it's plain ugly. He needs to stick to his game - scoring spark off the bench with occasionally alley oops to Dre. C+ (50% of which was that oop)

Brandon Jennings. His hand caught fire at one point and he really got the Pistons going again. I'm ok with him looking for his shot, but again, I want to see balance. When Jennings decides that he wants to involve his team mates, our team gets a lot better fast. I expect more than 4 assists, but I am aware that he did throw some good passes which were missed by team mates. Having said that, shooting 40% for the floor is unacceptable for someone who is meant to be a scorer. But he gets a bump for only having 1 turnover in the game. That's good basketball. B

KCP had a solid game. Popped a couple of treys to space the floor, played good D. Would like to see a little bit more driving/kicking from him. Man he is quick. It's insane. He is John Wall quick. B

CV/JJ/Datome - garbage time. I want to see more from Datome, especially. I think he can be a key piece from the bench but he hasn't hit his stride yet.

Stuckey. Does he have a brain injury? We have obviously seen the best of stuckey this year.

This was a game where Josh Smith displayed his value to the team perfectly - being a good team player. Kickouts, solid defense, driving to the hoop, finding cutters. He rebounded well, and didn't try to bomb away. Some people will say he underplayed his contract, and to an extent that is true, but this was an all around good performance from a guy who has been way to quick on the trigger lately. He needs to be coached into finding a balance between using his offense through cutting and fighting in the post, and his elite passing skills. Monroe and Smith put on a passing clinic inside for a combined 11 assists. That is great outcome from two big guys. Also of note, Smith and Monroe both had 4 steals tonight, which nearly made up for the 9 turnovers they had between them and gave them a ast/tov rate of >1. Monroe gets an A from me and Smith a B+ (only because he took some bad shots)

Drummond. Well. This guy looks the part of centrepiece right now. He deserves it. He still isn't consistent enough on offense, but his rebounding is out of control. But who can argue with a guy who went 10-11 from the field (2/5 FG ) for 22 points. 14 rebounds? Consider this - right now, the Pistons have 3 guys in the top 20 for rebounds a game and he is still 3rd in the league. Incredible. He gets an A

Singler. Lets put this one to bed. He had a really good game tonight. He shot well from outside, made smart cuts, drew fouls. His offense was really important to a couple of lethargic moments for the Pistons. He chipped in with 10 rebounds, an ast, steal and a block. His defense wasn't fantastic (I can think of a few mistakes off the top of my head) but was passable. Against Philly, you would hope this is the case. I'm giving him a B+ for the game.

Bynum. With the exception of a delicious alley oop to Drummond, this guy didn't deserve minutes this game. I might have missed something good but I thought he was awful tonight, particularly on defense. 6 assists is nothing to scoff at, but he didn't make it count on the other end. Also, I hate watching him try to captain the floor, it's plain ugly. He needs to stick to his game - scoring spark off the bench with occasionally alley oops to Dre. C+ (50% of which was that oop)

Brandon Jennings. His hand caught fire at one point and he really got the Pistons going again. I'm ok with him looking for his shot, but again, I want to see balance. When Jennings decides that he wants to involve his team mates, our team gets a lot better fast. I expect more than 4 assists, but I am aware that he did throw some good passes which were missed by team mates. Having said that, shooting 40% for the floor is unacceptable for someone who is meant to be a scorer. But he gets a bump for only having 1 turnover in the game. That's good basketball. B

KCP had a solid game. Popped a couple of treys to space the floor, played good D. Would like to see a little bit more driving/kicking from him. Man he is quick. It's insane. He is John Wall quick. B

CV/JJ/Datome - garbage time. I want to see more from Datome, especially. I think he can be a key piece from the bench but he hasn't hit his stride yet.

Stuckey. Does he have a brain injury? We have obviously seen the best of stuckey this year.

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Good write up. Let me correct a few things. Just kidding. This is spot on in my book. Bynum used to be a nice change of pace spark and that dude can ball. But he's too much like Jennings. Its like you take numnuts out and put another numnuts in. Bynum looked like he was cussing out Datome after a turnover. The problem isn't so much Bynum as it is the lack of depth at shooting guard. All your guards minus KCP need to dominate the ball to be their best but its to the detriment to the team.
KCP is a rookie (thank you Dr. Obvious) and he's making rookie mistakes when the passes the ball but it was nice to see him expanding his role beyond catching and shooting.

They went away from setting a pick at the top of the key so Jennings could impotently probe the defense. He did try to break his man down but he can't so he passed the ball. He can make entry passes which Knight couldn't do. 4 assists is good because he didn't dominate the ball and the team made extra passes for the easy bucket.

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The Pistons have been running a nice play where a big (mostly Drummond) sets a back screen to free Jennings for 3's when the starters are out there.

It is a rare example of the Pistons making use of what is out there instead of lamenting it.

So that's two wins in a row where the Pistons beat up on a bad team playing without one of its two best players. Tomorrow they have Miami, which is a good team playing without one of its two best players. Let's see how the Pistons stack up then.

You know, between Smith, Monroe, and Jennings, that starting five should be using each other to set up easy baskets. Their reliance on iso plays completely negates that strength - a fact that becomes all the more apparent when they use it properly like they did last night.

We're seemingly back to where we were before the bottom dropped out at the end of the year.

Singler hit an open corner 3 and Turner was caught looking to the sideline talking about collapsing or sticking with Singler. Nice to be on the other side of that. We have a lot of talent. We just play bad. lol

In the end, the team will miss the playoffs and still won't get a draft pick because of a prior trade. So they either need to beat up everyone in the east that they face the rest of the season or start tanking the blues at the end of February to fall in the 4-8th spot and get one of those draft spots.

In the end, the team will miss the playoffs and still won't get a draft pick because of a prior trade. So they either need to beat up everyone in the east that they face the rest of the season or start tanking the blues at the end of February to fall in the 4-8th spot and get one of those draft spots.

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I'd prefer the tanking option, but I'm afraid we have a better chance of actually making the playoffs. Right now, the Pistons are 1/2 game out of the playoffs but they are 3.5 games out of the #8 spot (which still doesn't guarantee a team won't jump over us and push us to #9).

In the end, the team will miss the playoffs and still won't get a draft pick because of a prior trade. So they either need to beat up everyone in the east that they face the rest of the season or start tanking the blues at the end of February to fall in the 4-8th spot and get one of those draft spots.

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Dre, unfortunately, this is how the season is unfolding. You get the feeling the team can't go 10 out of 12 and really get in the playoffs, but also the team is too good or not bad enough to make the bottom 8. It was not suppose to be a lottery year anyway. They call it no man's land.

76ers, lead the NBA with points in the paint. Pistons, right behind the 76ers with points in the paint. And yet this 2 teams are struggling with 76ers probably ending up with a lottery pick. How much have change since the Pistons won it all in 2004. Before this, teams which average 50+ points in the paint would have easily win 50 regular season games.

76ers, lead the NBA with points in the paint. Pistons, right behind the 76ers with points in the paint. And yet this 2 teams are struggling with 76ers probably ending up with a lottery pick. How much have change since the Pistons won it all in 2004. Before this, teams which average 50+ points in the paint would have easily win 50 regular season games.